Relaxed Heat patiently wait for next opponent

James feels like 'we're not a part' of playoffs

May 3, 2013|By Harvey Fialkov, Sun Sentinel

MIAMI — — A seven-day layoff between the Heat's opening-round sweep of the Milwaukee Bucks and Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Monday night against a still-to-be-determined opponent has been a godsend for Dwyane Wade's ailing knee, but may also be giving video coordinator Dan Craig a panic attack.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra — who began his career as the Heat's video coordinator — and his players will have to wait until the conclusion of Saturday night's Game 7 between the battered Bulls and revived Brooklyn Nets before knowing which team to prepare for.

"We just have to wait,'' Spoelstra said after a vigorous practice at AmericanAirlines Arena on Friday. "We can't get ahead of ourselves, but the staff, scouting staff and our video room, they just threw up all their papers and DVDs last night.

"It's got to go another game day, and no one has any idea who's going to get that, so they have to prepare all the final books and videos before [Saturday] so we're ready to go right after the game.''

At 37, veteran guard Ray Allen is happy for the extra time off his surgically repaired ankle, but said it felt like "we're on vacation.''

"We're doing summer-league stuff right now, but we're ready to go,'' he said after a heated practice that was patterned after the Heat's preseason workouts in China.

"We've already played these teams [six times] this year, so everything is in the can. It's just a matter of what team you bundle together. Film technology is so great now — I don't mean to take away the importance or difficulty of their job — but it seems so much easier nowadays.

"When I first got in the league, they gave me a tape [for my] VCR. Don't laugh!''

LeBron James seemed bored by the daily hypothetical questions about whether rust or rest will be beneficial or harmful to a team that's won 41 of its last 43 games.

"It's just rest from playing in games,'' he said. "We've been able to get into the gym … staying ready.

"I'm enjoying [the playoffs] as a fan, but we want to get back at it. We feel like we're not even a part of it at this point.''

While James and Wade, who's from Chicago, said they didn't care whether they played the Bulls or Nets, the past record indicates otherwise.

The Heat have beaten the Nets 13 consecutive times (James has 17 straight wins over them), including all three games this season by an average margin of 22.6 points.

Conversely, since the Big Three era arrived in 2010, the Heat are 3-7 against Chicago in the regular season (4-1 in the playoffs), including 1-2 this year after the undermanned Bulls snapped the Heat's 27-game winning streak on March 27.

"We have to challenge ourselves to get right back into it when game time comes,'' Wade said. "Everyone's foaming at the mouth to play. … It's the Eastern Conference. We know each other. There's not going to be any surprises.''

Heat forward Shane Battier isn't feeling sorry for the Bulls, who have four rotation players either injured or sick.

"We're trying to approach this bye week, if you will,'' Battier laughed, "as productively as possible. Is it easier to prepare if you know who your opponent is? No question, but we'll do the best we can.

"There's no honor among thieves. No one feels sorry for anybody. Whoever it is, it's going to be a physical series and about rebounding. The styles are different, but that's the common thread.''

James gives back

James donated $1 million to his high school, St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio, to renovate the gym that will bear his name.

"It created who I am today,'' said James, who went directly from high school to the NBA. "It helped me become a young man on and off the floor. It has brought friendships that are going to last me forever, and a place I can always return to no matter what goes on in my life.

"[My name] is in there already. My jersey's hanging. I got three state championships, but to be able to have my name on the floor, that means a lot to me.''